The Same but Different

Our Wedding Day

I’m a little bit late with this blog post I know, but it does give me an excuse to drag out this newlywed part of life a little bit longer, so please bear with me.

Also, we have been watching The Crown, so that has taken priority, but I thought I best get typing before Broadchurch is released on US Netflix. I LOVE an ITV drama.

In all seriousness, it has taken me so long to write about our wedding day, simply because I wanted it to reflect just how much of a fantastic day we had.

We got married on the last, and possibly only, sunny Saturday in October, and it was absolutely perfect. We spent the entire day surrounded by our friends and family, many whom we hadn’t seen for over a year. We did not stop laughing and smiling all day, and it really made us realise just how much we have missed everyone, and also how lucky we are.

We got married at Rudby Hall, a luxury country house close to our home town in the North East of England. And from our first ever wander around, it was without a doubt, ‘the one’. The one that gave me butterflies, the one that made me cry (with happiness, just so there’s no confusion), and the one that made me do a ‘we’re getting married’ dance. Which is surprisingly very similar to my ‘we’re getting pizza’ dance.

Luckily we viewed the venue long before we set off to the US, however we then had to figure out how to plan the rest from America.

The answer = A thirteen page spread sheet, and 5768 hours on Pinterest.

Without a spread sheet, I’m not sure a wedding would have happened. Here was where I recorded everything from the cost of my knickers, to the Guest Book pen. Which just had to be gold, because Pinterest said so.

And I spent most of my weekends trying to pin Ian down to at least fifteen minutes of wedding talk, budget calculating, and decision-making. Surprisingly, he wasn’t too bothered about what colour confetti we went for, or if the ribbon on the invites was the right shade of ivory.

Thankfully my Mam was, and she happily (I imagine) spent hours listening to me on Skype, deciphering my emails on exactly what shade of purple I wanted in the flowers. As well as shopping for the best value vases, photo frames, candles, and more, because as much as I wanted to go wild, this girl had a budget.

Soon enough it was fourteen days before the wedding, and I was boarding my flight home to the UK, where I was greeted at the airport by my Mam and Bridesmaid, Sharon, with my own sparkly chauffeur sign.

In between catching up with everyone back home, my two weeks before the wedding was full of appointments, putting together the final details, enjoying my lovely hen do, and doing an almighty sigh of relief at my first dress fitting.

Ian then joined me in the UK seven days later, where he jetted straight off on his stag do, followed by a few days at work, before finalizing the wedding playlist, and calming me down the day before when my sudden nerves sent me hopping around like a frog.

Thankfully the nerves disappeared as soon as I arrived at Rudby Hall, where with the help of my Mam and Sharon, we decorated the venue just as I imagined.

The morning of the wedding the three of us ate bacon sandwiches in bed, had our hair and makeup perfected, before watching from the window as the guests started to arrive. Followed closely by Ian, dressed in his fancy pants suit, beer in hand, as he greeted our friends and family, waiting patiently to get married.

Walking into the ceremony room, I was so excited and happy that this day was finally here, and everyone had travelled especially to celebrate with us, that it completely overtook any nerves I had been feeling.

We also chose the shortest wedding ceremony possible, which helped, but it was full of laughter, and had everything we could have wanted. And we even fit in a cheeky high-five, before heading out to the theme tune of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, as I skipped up the aisle.

My favourite part of any wedding is always the speeches, and on this day all three were perfect. They were the perfect mix of funny, emotional, and embarrassing stories, with inappropriate jokes, and accidental swearing. And watching Ian being heckled by his sisters is always a highlight.

I could babble on so much more, and fill you in on every detail, however I think the photos capture the entire day perfectly, and do a much better job than any more words I could write. Thanks to our friends and family (and my spread sheet) we had the best day, and we wish we could do it all over again.

Six years ago, I would never have thought I would be marrying ‘Hobday’, one of my brothers best mates. And that it would all start off with a Facebook message where we both tell each other we didn’t want a relationship (I lied).

But if my twenty year old self could see me dancing away to Flo Rida Apple Bottom Jeans, in my wedding dress of dreams, next to my Husband, I think she’d be pretty happy about it.

Hi! My name is Rachel Collins, welcome to my world where I light-heartedly document my attempts at figuring out life as a twenty-something, and giving my honest opinion on the expatriate way of living as a British girl in Philadelphia, USA. Click 'About Me' to find out a little more.